Maple Leaf Golf Course celebrating 50th season as Tony Jezowski's field of dreams

Tony Jezowski instructs his young children on the finer points of golf during the construction of Maple Leaf Golf Course in 1962.Courtesy photo

LINWOOD – Tony
Jezowski endured the Great Depression and survived World War II.

Then found peace at Maple Leaf Golf Course.

"He liked to tell the story about the boy who traveled the
world looking for a bluebird, then came home and found it in his backyard,"
said his daughter Debbie Beson. "This course was Dad's bluebird in his
backyard."

Jezowski turned his backyard into his family's field of
dreams in 1963 when he built Maple Leaf, the 60-acre sand hill that he crafted
into the 27-hole gem of Linwood. And, in the course's first season without
Jezowski – who died last September at the age of 91 – family, friends and
golfers alike will be celebrating his peaceful creation at Maple Leaf's 50-year
anniversary.

The course is offering golf specials throughout the week of
July 8-12 – complete with 50-cent draughts and 63-cent hot dogs – then throwing
a grand bash on Saturday, July 13. Tribute artists representing Johnny Cash,
the Blues Brothers, Ted Nugent, Jim Morrison and Elvis perform at the clubhouse
from 7-11 p.m., with a fireworks show set for 10:15 p.m. There is no charge to
attend.

The celebration gives gatherers a chance to reminisce about
Jezowski and soak in the surroundings that he provided for a half-century worth
of golfers.

"It was his life," said Dan Jezowski of his father's
commitment to the course. "It was his hobby, his work, his passion ... it was
everything. Most people have their hobbies away from work. For him, this was
it."

Tony Jezowski grew from humble beginnings, raised in the hard-scrabble
1930s on a family farm in Crump, where he learned the value of a good day's
work. At the dawn of World War II, he joined the U.S. Air Force, picking up
technical skills as a B-24 mechanic that would long serve him well as a fixer
of all things.

He witnessed first-hand the devastation of the war while fighting
in the European theater, including the last nine months as a prisoner of war
after his plane was shot down. When he returned home, he knew he wanted someplace
tranquil to raise his family.

Outside the back door of their Linwood home stood the future
for Tony and Gerry Jezowski and their children, Dan, Randy, Debbie and Kathy.
The sloping land where Tony practiced his golf game – now the No. 5 hole of the
East Course – became the launching point for a legacy.

Maple Leaf's original nine opened in 1963, with golfers
paying $1 per round and being served sandwiches and soda out of a shack that stood
as the first clubhouse. The West Course was added in 1978 and the North Course
followed in 1991 as Jezowski's vision blossomed into one of the region's
premier courses.

At the center of it all was the family – all four children
would accept integral roles in the operation of the course – and the work ethic
that was a vital part of the plan. Every day the family would gather for work
at the course and every day, as Tony was known to say, was a "great day for the
race."

"In order to get anywhere in life, you've got to be willing
to work, and they instilled that work ethic into all of us," said Beson, who
helped at the course from the time she was old enough to pick up rocks and
cigarette butts.

"The summer we built
the North was one of the best times of our lives. We worked so hard from
daylight to dark. I remember we had our Labor Day cookout at the No. 9 green.
My husband was grilling steaks after we strawed the green – and that was our
picnic.

"It was a lot of hard work, but it was fun. It was something
different and we were doing it together."

While he hardly golfed over the last 20 years, Jezowski was
still a fixture at Maple Leaf. He and his wife routinely took evening drives
around the course they raised from the ground up, making a checklist for the
upkeep while taking in the splendor of the bluebird in their backyard.

"He enjoyed going out on the West Nine," said Dan Jezowski,
who oversees the superintendent duties. "He could go out there and feel the
breeze and watch the sunset."

Now, 50 years after it all began, golfers are still finding the peace of Maple Leaf Course Course. Just as Tony Jezowski planned all along.